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beat all

Idioms

Surpass anything, especially in a strange or amazing way, as in Adam and his cousin Eve eloped—doesn't that beat all! This phrase appears to have replaced beat the Dutch. It is often used in a negative construction, as in the example. [Slang; first half of 1800s] Also see to beat the band.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The earnings beat all boils down to the artificial-intelligence boom, which has driven up demand for data and hard drives.

From Barron's • Jan. 28, 2026

“We beat all the teams we played and no one’s gone undefeated to win CIF — these girls are the first to accomplish that,” Ong said.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 9, 2025

Given Watson had shot 65-65 over the weekend in Turnberry with Nicklaus shooting 65-66, it was the compliment to beat all compliments.

From BBC • Jul. 17, 2024

In the third round, she beat all the boys.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 27, 2023

Charles told his sister Caroline that Lyell said “it beat all other nonsense he has ever read on the subject.”

From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023